Speedometer-driving mechanism



" June 9,;1925.` 1,541,468

J. BERGE ET Al.

SPEBDQMETER DRIVING Mjacmmsu Filed may a.'l 1922 v Patented June 9,1925.

UNITED STATES 1,541,468 PATENT orifice.l

JOSEPH BER-GE AND EDWIN A. GUSTAFSON, OF FLINT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR-S TOA C SPARK PLUG COMPANY, OF FLINT, MICHIGAN, A'COB-PORATION OF MICHIGAN.

SPEEDOMETER-DRIVING MECHANISM.

Application filed May 8,

To all wlw/mi t may con-cern:

Be it known that we, JOSEPH Bienen, a citizen of the United States, andEDWIN-A. GUsTArsoN, a subject of the King of Sweden, and residents ofFlint, county of Genesee, and State of Michigan, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Speedometer-Driving Mechanism, of whichJthe following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, such aswill enable` others skilled in the art to which the invention relates tomake and use the same, reference being made therein to the accompanyingdrawings, which form a part of this speciication.

The invention relates generically to means for actuating a rotatableelement by power derived from one of the dirigible wheels of a vehicle,and is more particularly concerned with the transmission of motion fromone of the front wheels of a motor vehicle to a flexible shaft adaptedto actuate a speedometer or the like. Vhile in many respects of moregeneral application, the invention is especially designed for use inconnection with the front wheel and steering knuckle of a Ford car.

The objects of the invention include the following: l

The provision of improved means readily applicable to existing forms ofwheels and steering Fig. 1 is a rear elevation of one embodiment of theinvention shown as associated with a wheel and steering knuckle of thetype used on certain of the Ford cars;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the structure 'shown in Fig. 1, lookingoutwardly, the yoke knuckles without any modificationv of said parts tosupport speedometer actuat- 1922. Serial No. 559,213.

and part of the knuckle being broken away; anc l Figs. 3, at and 5 aresections taken on lines 3 3, 1r-4, and 55, respectively, of Fig. 2.Referring .to the drawings, 10 indicates anhaxle having at itsvextremity a yoke coni-r prising arms 1l, 11. A steering knuckle 12 isrotatably mounted between the arms 11, 11', upon a pin 13. A spindle 15pro- )ecting from the knuckle 12 carries a road wheel 16, which, as wellas the parts already described, may be of any usual or suitablecharacter. f

The road wheel shown comprises spokes 17 and hub plates or flanges 18,18', secured together by bolts 19, 19. A flat ring gear 20 is supported.upon the bolts 19', perforated ears 21 being provided on the geai'which fit over the inner ends of the bolts and are spaced from the hubflange 18 by washers 22. rllhe bolts 19 are substituted for the usualclamping bolts, such as 19, and serve the purpose of clamping the hubflanges together, as well as supporting the ring gear 20. It will benoted that this is the only change made in the usual details of vehicleconstruct-ion in order to adapt vit v to the use of our invention, andwhile it is considered preferable, because of its convenience andsimplicity, to utilize thisr method of mounting the ring gear, it willbe understood that the gear may be supported by other means if desired.y

The ring gear 2O comprises an annulus which may be of sheet metalprovided with a series of perforations 23, the bars 24 between theperforations serving as teeth in cooperation with the teeth 25 of atoothed gear 26 mounted in a plane perpendicular to the plane of thegear 20. The latter gear,

vbeing constituted merely of a flat perforated ring, may bemanufacturedvery easily and cheaply from sheet material by 'simple stamping andpunching operations, and

therefore is peculiarly suitable for quantity production undercircumstances where time of manufacture` and cost of labor and materialsare important factors.

vThe portions of gear 26 which engagewith gear 2O are formed preferablyfrom a nonsonorous and wear-resisting material, suoli',

for example, as one of the liber compositions ordinarily employed inlike situations.

This material may constitute a toothed ring which is clamped between adiskior washer 27 and a flanged cup washer 2S, both of which are securedtogether and to the end ot' arshaft 29 by a nut 30, The end of Ytheshaft may be irregularly shaped or flattened, as indicated at 3,1, toengage the washer 27 and provide a driving engagement between the shaftand the washer. Lugs 32 struck up from the edges of the washer engage inholes'33 in the toothed ring to ,provide driving connection between thewasher and the ring.:V A lug 32 may also be 4provided on washer 28 whichis bent inwardly to .engage one of the faces of nut 30 and lock thesame.

The shaft 29V is mounted in a suitable bearing lin a gear housing orframe member `comprising two tubular parts 34, 35, the axes 'of whichextend at an angle ot' about 135 to each other. VThese parts may beformedrintegrally with each other and are enlarged at .their point ofunion to provide communicating chambers 36, 3T, the outer ends of whichmay be closed by sealing plugs 38, 39, respectively. The end ot sha-iftV29 remote 'from gear 2G extends into chamber 36 and has secured theretoa gear 40. In the bore of part is journaled a second sha-ft 4lllt-heinnerend ot which extends into the chamber 37 and has secured thereto agear 42. The gear 42 engages with .gear40, the teeth ot one or bothgears being `spiral in order to mesh properly, inasmuch as the axesofthe gears are not zparallel. 'The outer end oit shaft 41 issuitablyformed, as with an irregularly shaped opening or ykeyway 43, toprovide means 'for driving a flexible shaft 44, which latter may extendto a pointon the vehicle convenient for the location or' a speedometer,as to the dash. The outer l'end ot thecasing ele-ment 35 may be providedwith screw threads as atr45 to cooperate with a screw collar 46 wherebythe flexible shaft is held in proper position with reference to theshaft 4l. Lubricationmay be provided for by mounting a grease cup 47upon the casing member 85.

The arrangement of sha-tts 41, 29, at an angle 4to -each other, asshown, enables the shaft 4l to be positioned substantially in alignmentwith the direction wnich the flexible shaft should assume normally inorder to vtransmitmotion most easily to the speedometer, thus reducingconsiderably the de Flection ont the shaft and resultant wear. The uscofthe two gears 40, 42, also enables the speed ratio between the roadwheel and the speedometer to be varied by mere substitution otl pairs ofIgears with different `gear ratios. The compensation tor various`diameters of road wheels may therefore be readily effected withoutchange in the speedometer itselt an'dwith no mediiication in the drivingmechanism except the insertion of a pairof gears having the necessarygear ratio, which gears@ may be provided, of

course, for each standard diameter of road wheel.

In order to support the transmission elements above described and toposition the gear 26 in proper relationto the driving gear 20, we havedevised a novel structure adapted to be secured upon the steeringknuckle. r)This structure comprises a split sleeve v50 adapted to litupon the upper and Yby prgviding a lug 52 upon an arm 53 forming a partofthe sleeve, the lug being adapted to enter the aperture 5l. A screw orbolt 54 passing through ears 55 serves to clamp the sleeve upon theknuckle. The sleeve terminates preferably soinewliatrbelow the upper endo'l" Vthe knuckle,'as showin Upon one side ot the clamping sleeve 50 isformed a cylindrical post 56 adapted to lit within a splitV sleeve 57integrally or otherwise rigidly connected to the gear housing or; 'trame34, 35. A bolt 5S serves to clamp the sleeve upon the post 5G. Theposition oi" the post is such that the angular adjustment of the gearhousing about the post will adjust the'gear 26 to or from the drivinggear 20, thus providing for proper coordination oi these gears.

lOO

The bracket comprising the clamp 50 and post 56 may be readily appliedand the drive mechanism supported thereby may then be attached orremoved at will. Although this bracket is especially designed to litupon the Ford steering knuckles now in use, it will be understood thatthe invention may be utilized, with slightV modilication wherenecessary, in connection with other makes VOt automobiles.

It will be noted that the driving gear 20y is selt-cleaning inasmuchasthe teeth of the tiber gear 26 will tend to remove mud and dirt tromthe pertorations and the gear is spaced from the road wheel sufficientlyto permit the dirt to escape. The fact that the teeth constituted bythe! bars between the perforations are supported at both ends, enablesthe gear to be formed from much thinner stock than would otherwise bepossible without sacrificing strength, thus affording a saving both inmaterial and cost ot' manu- Jfacture. The use of a flat or crown gear.for the driving gear makes it possible to mount the driven gear in aplane perpendicular to the road wheel, thus eliminating the necessity ofa swivel joint in thetransmission connections and enabling the drivingmechanism to be made more compact by reducing the pitch circle of thedriving gear and mounting the driven gear close to the axle.

. It will be understood that various changes may be made Withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention and therefore We donot desire to be restricted to the specific features herein set forthexcept as may be required by the language of the appended claims in vieWof the prior art.

Te claim:

l. In a speedometer driving mechanism, the combination With a vehicleWheel having hub flanges and bolts for securing said flanges together,certain of said bolts being extended beyond said flanges, of a ring gearcomprising an annular flat plate having perfor-ations therethroughadapted to receive the teeth of a cooperating toothed gear, said plateprovided. with lugs a-dapted to engage said extended bolts and besecured thereto, and a driven gear supported upon the steering knuckleof the vehicle Wheel and adjustable in a plane perpendicular to theplane of the said plate.

2. In a speedometer driving mechanism, the combination with a vehicleWheel of a driving gear comprising a fiat sheet metal ring with anannular series of perforations, said ring secured to said Wheel in aplane parallel to the plane of the Wheel, a bracket clamped upon thesteering knuckle of the Wheel, a gear housing mounted upon said bracketto swing ina plane perpendicular to the plane of the Wheel, a drivengear of non-metallic material carried by said housing andadjustable byswinging movement thereof toward or away from said ring gear, andspeedometer driving gears enclosed in said housing and arranged to beactuated by said driven gear.

3. In a speedometer driving mechanism, gearing adapted to be driven by avehicle road Wheel and to transmit motion to a flexible shaft, and meansfor supporting one .of the gears of said gearing comprising a forpositioning said `sleeve on said knuckle.

5. In combination With a vehicle having a` steering knuckle and wheelspindle construction wherein the steering knuckle ris aperturedcentrally on the side opposite the spindle, a bracket having anelemententering said aperture and positioned thereby, and means carried by saidbracket for driving a travel indicator from a Wheel on the spindle.

lIn testimony whereof We aliix our signatures.

JOSEPH BERGE. EDWIN A. GUSTAFSON.

